Daaba

Game Drive

What a inspiring day!  I awoke early - partly due to the jetlag, partly due to the excitement at the upcoming day - and we headed out on our first safari.  The stark beauty here is hard to describe; it takes your breath away.  The full moon still had enough strength to compete with the rising sun.  The light blue sky, the misty auburn rocks in the background, the deep green acacia trees, the pale wilted grass, the bright termite mounds - the scene honestly looked like it had been enhanced in photoshop.  Within ten minutes, we saw a giraffe feeding on a thorny mesquite tree.  There's something about seeing an animal in the wild that changes the experience entirely.  I mean, we've all seen lions and hippos in the zoo.  But a wild giraffe in it's habitat, doing it's own thing, independent of human care and attention - to witness that is something profound.  And really, I'm not an animal guy.  Really. There's an abundance of animal life here, which is hard to process because it is so very dry.  There just doesn't seem to be enough food for a gopher, let alone an elephant.  Apparently, we are nearing the end of the dry season and the scene will utterly transform in a few weeks when the 'short' rains arrive.  Then, within a day or two, the ground will be utterly green, the grass will start to grow to shoulder-height, and the dry creek beds will become torrents.  We saw a number of other species, and the experience was awesome.  To anyone who's ever dreamed about an African safari - just make it happen!  It's worth it!



Daaba

The trip to Daaba took about 45 minutes down a rutted, sandy road that wound haphazardly through the trees.  The sand is so fine that it’s more like dust, and it becomes airborn and swirls in clouds around and in the vehicle as you drive through it.  

Seven of us took the trip - Charles, Rick, Rob and I were joined by Henry, one of the hotel managers, Samuel, who is the hotel’s medic, and the guard.  (Our guard was the strong, silent type, so I don’t know his name).  This hotel and it’s staff have been helping with the efforts at the school in Daaba for a long time, and in fact have provided a classroom building and desks.  Both Henry and Samuel showed a strong interest in the work in Daaba; and were able to share with us many of the cultural considerations that they need to deal with in the Samburu and Turkana tribes.  

Carpet Colour Centre's Classroom Building

My kids had sent finger puppets as gifts for the children

Headmaster Charles (in yellow), Medic Samuel (in green),
 Security Officer Henry (in tan), James (in purple) and a few
of the students

As we neared Daaba, we began to see scattered goat herds, camels, and shepherd in amongst the trees.  I think the van’s arrival was a big deal to everyone, because it drew a lot of attention.  This place is so remote, it gets very few outside visitors.  The landscape was dotted with groups of round grass huts, and people were standing under trees chatting, or filling vessels with water at the well.  

The school compound itself represents the only permanent buildings in the area.  The classrooms are arranged around one of the area’s largest trees, which used to act as Daaba’s school.  When headmaster Charles first started teaching here, he and the students would gather under the shade of the tree everyday for classes.  There are a few other buildings - latrines, a dorm for the teachers, and a clinic.  Some of these have been built by NGOs and others by the government.  There is a well, drilled by ABW a number of years ago, a water tower, a solar pump, and a piped trough system that allows the cattle to drink.  

There are a few older, hand-dug wells here as well, which are awe-inspiring to behold.  They are wide enoung to climb down into, great holes picked into the rock fifty or sixty feet down.  The water is obtained by climbing into the well with a bucket in hand.  Due to the presense of the wells, the people, who for centuries have been nomadic, have generally settled down here.  There is a question of what came first - Daaba or the well.  The well was dug for the people, but there are only people here permanently due to the well.  As a result, this traditionally nomadic society is beginning to change.  

As we drove into the compound, we were greeted by the headmaster Charles and a number of his teachers.  Charles is a humble, quiet man who has had a profound effect on Daaba.  The distance that he travels each week, much of it on foot, to teach these kids is absolutely incredible.  He believed in this community long before there was any commitment from any organization for infastructure or operations.  He started making the trek here to teach when that was done with a few books and a big tree.  Most of the development in Daaba can be attributed to the strength of his character.

Currently there are 269 students at the school, ranging in grades ("standards") from 1 through 8.  Last year, 17 students finished standard-8 and 14 moved on to secondary school (high school).  This year, Charles expects 17 of the 30 standard-8 students to move on into secondary school.  As I understand it, these figures are beating the national average, which is a major accomplishment considering the extremely rural nature of the school and the students.  Remember that these students are spread over a massive geographic area.  Many walk long distances everyday for school - some of the six-year-olds actually walk 10 km each way through this harsh terrain!!  The level of the material that they are learning was surprisingly advanced.  We were especially impressed meeting an older student - James.  He has completed secondary school and has applied for university.  James is a bright young man with a strong desire to improve his community.  This school is producing extraordinary students who have the tools to begin to change the aid-based economy in Kenya.  

Similar to many developing areas, some of the major challenges facing Daaba involve women and girls.  This is a polygamous society: men typically marry three or four times.  Girls are given in marriage usually with very little say in the matter.  Although it has been outlawed in Kenya, the practice of female circumcision still happens regularly here.  There have been instances of girls thirteen or fourteen years old taken right from the school during classes to be married off to a middle-aged man.  (Her father most likely made a financial deal).  Charles is considering building a perimeter fence around the compound to help prevent this.  These aspects of Samburu and Turkana society seem abhorrent to us, and I believe they need to change, but we need to recognize that they have been part of the culture here for literally thousands of years.  An outright ban on these practices would most likely cause rebellion among the people.  It is not an easy task.  Henry said that a wedge needs to be driven into tribal society, but it needs to be done with a delicate hammer.